1. Field of the Invention
The classification of art as established by the United States Patent and Trademark Office is believed to place this invention in the general Class entitled, "Surgery" (Class 128) and in the subclass entitled, "dosing devices -- intravenous -- coaxial" (sublcass 214.4).
2. Description of the Prior Art
This apparatus provides a flexible catheter with means for determining the placement of the catheter into the vein of the patient. In addition to this embodiment there have been many attempts to provide closed systems in which the catheter, when connected to an intravenous member, may allow the withdrawal of the needle without a serious back flow of blood from the vein. Among these are my U.S. Pat. No. 3,599,637 as issued on Aug. 17, 1971 and my U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,632 as issued on Feb. 4, 1975. There is also a showing in U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,168 as issued on Oct. 28, 1975 to MONESTERE, et al. In all of these systems after the penetration of the skin and a vein is entered, the needle is withdrawn from the catheter. The intravenous feeding system in the above embodiments is connected through a socket in the catheter assembly to a tapered portion of the fluid conductor.
The present invention is directed toward providing a closed catheter system which enables the needle portion to be inserted into and through the tubular catheter portion without previous penetration of or a later withdrawal through the wall of a rubber or plastic tubing. At the same time, this assembly enables the fluid conducting tubing to be hooked up to the catheter before insertion of the needle into the patient and subsequent withdrawal of the needle from the catheter. Y-block concepts have previously been used to achieve closed systems.
In the present embodiment there is provided an auxiliary assembly which may be hooked up to an existing catheter. A slightly longer needle is used instead of the original needle. In another embodiment, the rotating intravenous member connection may be made as an integral part of the flexible catheter hub. It is to be noted that the needle in the passageway in the catheter acts as a shutoff for the flow of intravenous fluid through the catheter until the needle is withdrawn from the catheter and also prevents the spillage of blood from the catheter when the rotating member is moved into position.
In the embodiments to be fully described and shown, the present invention contemplates that the catheter with an enclosed needle may be inserted in a vein of a patient. A fluid conductor is connected to a socket portion of a rotatable portion of the apparatus. With the needle in place fluid flow through the conductor is inhibited. When this needle is withdrawn, the rotary member can be moved to a flow condition with the catheter.